IN THE CORRIDORS II

The New Zealand delegation, in an unusual move, tabled a three-page
response to two articles published in ECO, an NGO
publication circulated at the Conference. New Zealand took this
measure after unsuccessfully attempting to respond in ECO to
the stories. These articles, written by Leith Duncan, discuss both
private ownership of fisheries resources in New Zealand and the
introduction of individual transferable quotas (ITQs). ITQs are
schemes through which shares of a stock are allocated to individual
fishers, based on their historical catch, in an effort to ensure
sustainable use. New Zealand's response states that there is little
evidence to support the thesis of the articles that "private
ownership of fisheries resources is inimical to the conservation of
fisheries and the welfare of fishing people." The ECO
article attributes depletion of stocks to the implementation of ITQ
schemes. These, however, are often seen by fisheries economists as
a means of putting an end to the so-called "Tragedy of the
Commons." When property rights are not clearly assigned,
individuals will, in a classic example of the "Prisoner's Dilemma,"
tend to catch as much as they can, regardless of sustainability, in
order to harvest the fish before somebody else does. It is argued
that when property rights are assigned, fishers have an economic
incentive to harvest their own quotas in the most sustainable
manner. Discussion in the corridors indicated that New Zealand's
response was a sign that some governments are taking the views of
NGOs quite seriously. Yet, the question being asked was why, with
such a range of predatory fishing countries available as target
species, New Zealand was singled out by ECO as its by-catch.